The New York Mets will retire the number of Keith Hernandez this summer, a move Mets fans have wanted to see happen for many years.
Hernandez's number 17 will be lifted to the rafters of Citi Field on July 9 before a match-up with the Miami Marlins. Hernandez becomes the fourth player to be so honored, joining Mike Piazza (31), Jerry Koosman (36) and the late Tom Seaver (41). Gil Hodges (14) and Casey Stengel (37) have their numbers retired as managers.
Hernandez will also be the first member of the 1986 World Series championship team to have such an honor bestowed to him.
In the summer of 1983 then Mets General Manager Frank Cashen sent relievers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for the All Star first baseman, who had already won a World Series in St. Louis. Hernandez was initially hesitant about staying with the Mets until he began to see the plethora of budding young talent coming up through the Mets farm system.
In so many ways Hernandez was the linchpin of those 80's Mets teams. As described by many of his 1986 teammates in the ESPN 30-for-30 documentary, "Once Upon A Time In Queens," Hernandez was the leader that most of the players looked up to.
In his seven years as a Met, Hernandez hit .297 with a .387 on base percentage. He slugged 80 home runs and 159 doubles, and drove in 468.
He had seven RBI during the Mets World Series run in 1986.
A line-drive hitter, Hernandez was better known for his glove at first base, posting a stellar .994 fielding percentage and capturing 11 Gold Gloves over his entire 17-year Major League career.
After his playing days were over in the early 90's, Hernandez became widely known for a handful of appearances on the sitcom "Seinfeld," with whom he struck up a good friendship with the show's co-creator and star, Jerry Seinfeld.
More recent fans of course know Hernandez from his many years in the Mets broadcast booth which began in the early 2000's on Fox Sports Net alongside the likes of Howie Rose, Fran Healey and WPIX Channel 11 alongside Gary Thorne and Tom Seaver.
By 2006, Hernandez formed the three-man booth on SNY with Gary Cohen and his old '86 Mets teammate, Ron Darling. The trio have worked Mets games for 17 years, bringing their unique baseball insight, with a little bit of comedy and storytelling mixed in.
Gary, Keith and Ron have become so popular that Mets fans even put out their own t-shirt line of the trio a few seasons ago. Even Yankees fans have acknowledged that the Mets TV booth is one of the best in the sport.
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